Failing the test for your driver’s license puts you in a club with millions of other people. It takes many people two or three tries before they can hit the road with confidence. Still, many people make the same mistakes when taking the test. Let’s discuss a few of them, and how you can avoid them on the next go-around.
Don’t try to take it all in the night before.
First of all, it takes many encounters with new material for it to sink into your brain and become ingrained. You can expect to learn everything there is to know about road safety in a single night. Second, you need your rest before you get behind the wheel of a car. Lack of sleep has negative effects on the brain and will most likely lead to you making sloppy mistakes during your test. Even if you aren’t confident in your ability, get some sleep. You can do some last-minute cramming when you wake up in the morning.
Know which learning strategies work for you.
When the Association for Psychological Science released their findings about least effective learning strategies, highlighting, summarizing, and underlining passages all made the list. You have to know how you learn so you will be able to find a way for the information to stick in your head. Many people are kinesthetic learners, and as such you should go out and practice with your parents. Others are more inclined to visual perception, so there are plenty of videos on the internet which surround the key elements of the driving exam. Take advantage of as many resources as you have access to.
Know what to expect on the test.
There are plenty of practice tests at your fingertips, both written and online. You’d be a fool not to take advantage of them. Taking a practice driving exam gives you an idea about what to study instead of walking into the testing room cold. Many of the online exams will give you immediate results which point out which aspects of the test you need to focus on as you continue to study. When you know what you’re up against, it will be easier for you to pass this time around.
Learn from the mistakes you made the first time.
Many written driver’s exams give you a copy of the test after you fail. Look over the questions that you got wrong. Now that you know what your weaknesses are, you know what you need to devote the most time to when studying. Don’t be the person who makes the same mistakes twice. This will help you knock the next test out of the park, as long as you don’t use this as an excuse to forget what you knew in the first go around. Be prepared for anything the exam might throw at you.
